Pablo Picasso

(Guitars)

(Bottle of Suze)

The objects used in the two paintings by Pablo Picasso include guitars, bottles, cigarette trays, sheet
music, cups, newspaper and boxes
Fragments of a whole object can be seen layered on top of each other. For example, in Guitars
Picasso has incorporated the body of the guitar (white paper) and the fret board (yellow
paper/cardboard) and finally draw guitar stings on the blue background paper. Picasso has an eclectic
style of painting and focuses on a single item (or approach) in his works and incorporates other details
and objects around the main piece. The main item in the piece on the left is a guitar, while a bottle of
alcohol called Suze is the centerpiece of the work on the right. He also tends to use monochromatic
colors with a splash of another color (in the case of these two particular works it is blue).
I think that his work Bottle of Suze is reflective of society at that time. He has used objects such as
cigarette trays, newspapers and alcohol bottles to create an image of common household items during
the period. Picasso has created an image of a man drinking a glass of whiskey while reading about
politics and smoking a cigar. I also think that the label of the drink may carry a meaning in itself.
Because the brand of the drink is left in the center of the painting (and is deliberately large and clear to
read) I think that Picasso may also be pointing out another aspect of life advertising and printing. In
Guitars I think that he was trying to portray the multi facets of music and how detailed and intricate it
is when it is stripped down.
His pieces seem to have a similar composition. There is a distinct background in both of these pieces
that I have chosen. The background seems to be a newspaper in Bottle of Suze and a blue piece of
paper with a guitar neck and strings in Guitars. These pieces revolve around their center object which
in the case of Guitars is not a single large object in the center of the artwork (as seen in Bottle of
Suze), but is rather parts of a guitar which overlap each other. The pieces all vary in colour, texture,
shape and size in both pieces. Picasso has used block colors and different textures to compose these
two individual pieces.